The Blog

Presidential Watches

I know I mentioned in an earlier post that our president King George II has been known to wear a Franck Muller. After that post, I started to think about what watches other presidents have worn.

I remember specifically the Timex Ironman Bill Clinton wore while in office, but 6 months after he left office, he was on the cover or Time magazine wearing a Roger Dubuis. I have heard from folks in the industry that Clinton is a bit of a collector. Word is he owns a few Roger Dubuis as well as a Panerai.

When King George I launched the first gulf war, he was wearing a Patek Phillipe, but by far the most popular presidential watch was the Corum $20 gold coin watch which was worn by Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson who actively wore them while they were in office. I also read somewhere that all US presidents were gifted Revue Thommen watches when they were in office. Whether or not they wore them is another story. Johnson apparently also was known to wear a Rolex President watch. He wasn’t the only US president who was a Rolex man. President Eisenhower was also known to wear a Rolex Day-Date.

Some of the world leaders our presidents have met with are also watch lovers. Vladimir Putin isn’t messing around when he throws on a Patek Perpetual Calendar watch. The new prime minister of Israel Ehud Olmert has a more youthful timepiece. He was recently photographed wearing a Breitling Aerospace Advantage.

It’s always interesting to find out what watches political powerhouses are wearing while they are in office. I feel it gives you some deeper insight into their personality. Of course it’s all open to your own interpretation.